What's preventing Blackberry customers from moving to the iPhone or the Android platform?

Does Blackberry have a monopoly on enterprise-class mobile security?

What does a migration strategy away from Blackberry look like?

To help answer these questions, and understand the related issues, I recently spoke with Matt Coffy, Owner of Slash Wireless, a carrier and device neutral mobility device management company and solution provider for enterprise businesses. Matt is a SME or "subject matter expert" for Business Phone News in the area of mobility management.

Following are the questions I posed:

1. Please give us a history of Blackberry's perceived monopoly in the mobility space for enterprise businesses. What is blackberry layering on top of an AT&T, Verizon or Sprint phone number that makes it "so secure" for enterprise customers?

2. What are some of the applications being used that requires such a high level of security by enterprise customers?

3. How is it that Apple's iOS mobile operating system and Google's Android mobile OS are so inferior to the Blackberry BES mobile operating system?

4. What's at the crux of Blackberry's recent outages?

5. Can enterprise mobility customers get sufficient security such that a migration away from Blackberry is conceivable?

6. How would a migration from BES to iOS, or Android, take place? Is it justifiable?

7. What is Slash Wireless' role in the whole MDM arena and how do enterprise mobility customers use Slash Wireless along with the wireless carriers and mobile equipment manufacturers?

Dan Baldwin: Blackberry outages have been well documented over the past several months, as has been the outcry of unhappy Blackberry enterprise business customers. The obvious questions begged by these headlines include:

What's preventing Blackberry customers from moving to the iPhone or the Android platform?

Does Blackberry have a monopoly on enterprise-class mobile security?

What does a migration strategy away from Blackberry look like?

Here to help us answer these questions and understand the related issues is Matt Coffy, Owner of Slash Wireless, a wireless carrier and device neutral mobility device management company and solution provider for enterprise businesses. Matt, thanks for speaking with us today.

Matt Coffy: Thanks for having me, Dan.

DB: Question #1. Start us out by giving us a history of Blackberry's perceived monopoly in the mobility space for enterprise businesses. What is Blackberry layering on top of AT&T, Verizon or Sprint phone numbers that makes it so secure for enterprise customers?

MC: Well, I think there is much more to this first question that you have opened up here. It is a lengthy discussion. It goes back to the early '90s, and that's when I first started getting engaged with Blackberry.

I was actually the first person to bring Blackberry out to the retail space. The place that I was working at the time, GoAmerica, was the first Blackberry reseller, and the reason why people gravitated towards Blackberry was more about the simplicity of the e-mail functionality.

What that has really sort of transposed over the period of years, as the enterprises have picked up from the late 90s until today, has been what's known as the triple DES security or FIPS compliant, and these are all different sort of acronyms for the layering of the secure capabilities for the carriers to use RIM servers as a proxy to lock down the e-mail so that what they could consider the enterprise security BES, or Blackberry Enterprise Server, it allows people to feel that hey, this stuff is locked up.

And if you look at your own e-mail from a laptop or a regular server standpoint, there is some sort of level of security where it is encrypted, and that was really where Blackberry had made their name as the sort of gold standard.

But that is now not really the case. And I think that some of the other questions you will probably ask me are going to open up that can of worms, where we're going with the security aspects of this business, because I think the whole drama with RIM and it's sort of challenge recently with the cascading effect of its servers going down has really highlighted the fact that maybe things have changed, and the winds are blowing in another direction.

DB: Question #2. What are some of the applications being used that require such a high level of security by enterprise customers?

MC: Good question. I don't really think it is applications. It is one very simple answer to this. It is corporate data. Whether it's e-mail, whether it's being able to log into a system that's behind the firewall, it all comes down to a very simple premise which is the cost of losing corporate data or device outweighs the cost of paying for a security service on a device.

So, for instance, if you have a list of corporate data that includes customers, or numbers, or who knows, it could be very sensitive data, that has to be locked down, or at least has to be locked down to a certain degree where it's signed off on by an upper IT level that people feel comfortable.

So, it's not necessarily applications, but it's the ability within those applications to get the corporate data that may be sensitive.

DB: Question #3. How is it that Apple's iOS mobile operating systems and Google's Android mobile operating system are so inferior to what Blackberry has with this BES mobile operating system?

MC: It is an interesting way that you put this question, because I think the question should be more pointed towards what is going on in the MDM space that is elevating Apple and Droid to become on par with Blackberry's BES model. I think that whole industry is exploding, and the reason why that is happening, MDM (Mobile Device Management) is really what I would consider the consumerization of the enterprise from a mobile standpoint.

There used to be a saying that it was a parent-child relationship between the IT and the staff, meaning that you came on board a company, or you were working with a company and they basically told you here are the devices that you have. You have your Blackberry, and you can only have this phone, and that's what we support.

Today it is the reverse. It is a child-parent scenario. So, people who are coming on board companies have their iPhone, or have their Droid, and they are basically asking how do I get e-mail?

They allow you to now get into the space of using Apple iOS or Android on par with a security level, or somewhere on par with a security level, with a BES. There are a lot of companies that are now running an MDM solution that handles those two operating systems, and handles application management and a whole host of other things in conjunction with a BES.

So you are going to find that there is a continued prevalence of modification of IT structure within the mobile policy domain where people are going to be allowed to bring in iPads, and iPhones, and Droids, and, whatever the next product is, because there is actually a service behind that that is securing these devices.

So, when you are saying inferiority of an Apple or Droid OS as opposed to a BES, I think it is more about what do you use in conjunction to support the corporate policy for security management, and that's why this whole MDM space is growing.

In fact, there are probably about 25 companies that supply this type of service.

DB: Question #4. What's at the crux of Blackberry's recent outages?

MC: Good question. I don't think that there is an answer for that. I think that the reality is that you've got a cascading effect.

There were some problems with Blackberry messenger. There were people trying to log in, trying to get their messages or whatever they're trying to do to get into their devices. There is some server that goes down, that fails the next server, and then all of a sudden you have a backup plan that has been installed, probably two years ago by Blackberry when the last major huge outage happened that is probably outdated.

So at the end of the day, RIM is a great company, and they try to do the best thing, and they're trying to keep up, but obviously their failover plan was not updated enough to handle the immense amount of traffic coming to these servers, and it took four days for that to be fixed.

I think that even judging by RIM stock price, you can see that there are some doubts as to the validity of their model as being the gold standard anymore. Is it just a standard that people work with, and I think that the times are changing. They are always going to have a place, but the percentage is not going to go up, it's probably going to go pretty much down.

DB: Question #5. Can enterprise mobility customers get sufficient security such that a migration away from Blackberry is conceivable?

MC: I would say that this question is probably about a year too old. Most of the enterprises I deal with have already decided to move on to other platforms just because every corporate executive out there has an iPad, or wants an iPad, or has an iPhone, and they have asked hey, how do I get onto my e-mail?

So a lot of these companies have already moved into this space. Literally the companies like MobileIron and AirWatch, and the list goes on and on and as I mentioned before, who are in the MDM space are making a killing right now, and they are so busy that if you talked to anybody who is in this MDM space, they are going to tell you basically this a new frontier.

This is where people are going. They have to go there. There is a mandate from these corporations that hey, you've got to secure this device. We can't leave this device in a state of potential breakage. And although none of these services are what I would consider the highest standard because they've not matured enough, they're mature enough that a majority of the corporations that took them on as a relief valve for 'now' people who are not going to be using a RIM device, such as a Blackberry or any of the other standard products they have, they have a solution to now bring people into a space where they feel comfortable that the IT department and the rest of the staff can pretty much move over to another client access license for a secure environment, pretty much like you do with any Blackberry or BES service.

It's just adding a licensing. It doesn't take much effort to load these devices with the application, because obviously everything is over the air now, and people just load the app and away they go. Now they have a secure device.

DB: Question #6. Can you briefly describe, how does the migration actually take place? You get a phone call that says I want to sign something, I want to do it today, and they've got 1,000 Blackberries. How does the migration actually look for the clients that you're working with? Is it cost justifiable? Or is it justified because people just don't want to have a Blackberry anymore?

MC: This is a tough call. Is the cost justification worth it to move from a BES to another OS? I mean, the client access licenses range from $40 to $100 depending on if you're on AirWatch to MobileIron to Good Technology. I mean, there is a whole host of people who charge different costs for an access license just to be on a secure server.

The migration? Well, the migration is two parts. I mean obviously just a standard port over from one device to another, whether it's an ESN (“electronic serial number”) change meaning device to device on the same carrier, or if it's port over from another carrier, i.e., from Sprint to AT&T, there are standard ways of managing a migration.

A lot of people do that in-house, but there are also a lot of companies cropping up such as Mission Critical Wireless or eMOBUS, there are a lot of folks that will help in these transitions, so there are people who solve these issues.

But from a cost perspective, I'm not sure if cost really becomes the piece that is really the linchpin. I think it is productivity at the end of the day.

If someone is going to say listen, we're moving to Droids because of the ability to now have this open access where we can use these applications, or we can use these devices in a better manner than we were using with Blackberry or Apple, going to Apple is a better solution than staying on Blackberry because there are all these wonderful apps that we can use and people are more productive, I think that productivity gains outweigh the cost of a move.

It's more about the justification of saying to an organization, and I see this not only from a mobile side, but I see people moving from Microsoft to Google e-mail, is the ability to use a different platform, and use it effectively, as a solution for the corporate enterprise is really the real crux here which is what's changed in the enterprise that people are running away from Blackberry?

I don't think, necessarily, the migration from BES to another operating system is justifiable. I think it is more about what's happening in the environment from a mobile standard, which is, are people now using these open source platforms to develop more productivity?

And that justification is probably where you are ending up, which is the cost to move or to take all these folks and put them in a different platform is more of a corporate strategy to get people more into this place where they can use these tools such as iPad, and so forth, in the field are to a greater degree to compete. I think that is what you're coming up against. What are other people doing, and how are they competing in their industry vertical?

DB: Question #7. What is Slash Wireless' role in the whole MDM arena, and how do enterprise mobility customers use Slash Wireless along with the wireless carriers and mobile equipment manufacturers?

MC: That's a big question. I think a lot of people come to Slash Wireless initially for looking at wireless expense management. I think that I sort of hung my hat on the fact that when I go talk to a corporation, a lot of the time they are looking for ways to save money, especially in this economy.

I've done it so many times where I could literally look at a customer's invoice from the carrier and tell them about, within a few percentage points, what I could do, and that's been between 20% and 40% off their bill. That's a big number.

And what people are doing, is when they've got that savings, they are tying that back into potentially using that as a way to pay for accessing these other products and services, which may be the mobile device management solution that we talked about earlier in this discussion, where they can now take the money that they saved from the carrier optimization strategy that I've applied, and put that towards paying for these new iPads in, and lets get a secure application that locks them down. Or, they are putting that money back in reinvesting into their business.

So that's really how my business started, and that's really where I come from as well being that I worked in the past for telecom expense management companies that had wireless expense management division, and I ended up sort of running those sales channels. I think that what I learned was that there is still a very large market for this wireless expense management. I don't run into anyone who I have found that has been clean (invoice optimization wise) that I can say okay, you've done a good job. Most people I run into, I have at least a 20% alternative savings strategy for them to look at.

DB: Question #8. What size customers, how many handsets, or what's the acid test to do to know whether or not you have a customer where realistically they want you, and you want them to be a customer?

MC: That's a great point, and I think for the agent community it is always going to be who should I look at to sell WEM? I really look at anybody with 50 to 500 cell phones as being a sweet spot. The reason why, is that below 50, the savings level is not really that great, although you do run into some customers who may have 20 phones and they are just getting hammered by the carrier and just haven't taken a look at the bill. You can save them a lot of money, too.

I look at a recent win that we had with a customer, about 450 phones, and the last month I looked at their savings it was $16,000 that we took off their bill. That is significant, and when you explain that to a customer that's a big revenue stream for a channel partner when you split the savings monthly!

I think that, if the agent base, or the people listening to this Podcast could get their hands around working with anybody who has at least 50 phones, you could pretty much do the math. If you are going to take off 20% to 40% off their bill and split it, the average phone cost is around $100 typically that I find for most of the customers I'm working with (before we go in and optimize), so if you're looking at 500 phones it would be $50,000 and take off 20%. There's your $10,000 savings minimum I would look at as a number to look at from a starting point

DB: Question #9. What is the best way for either end-users or distributors out there to get more information about Slash Wireless?

MC: They can always go to SlashWireless.com, and we have all our information on there. You can call me directly at 201-546-5020. I answer a lot of direct phone calls. I love speaking with people about what they are looking to do and I am happy to help out anybody who has questions in this space as well. Or you can always email me at info@slashwireless.com.

DB: This is Dan Baldwin. We've been talking to Matt Coffy, owner of Slash Wireless, a carrier and device neutral mobility device management company and solution provider for enterprise businesses.

Matt, thanks for talking to us today.

MC: It was my pleasure.

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